| Historic Name: |
|
Common Name: |
|
| Style: |
Arts & Crafts - Craftsman |
Neighborhood: |
Wallingford |
| Built By: |
|
Year Built: |
1914 |
| |
| Significance |
|
In the opinion of the survey, this property appears to meet the criteria of the Seattle Landmarks Preservation Ordinance. |
|
|
This house was erected 1913-14 by the owner, Henry Brice, whose address is listed as 4234 Densmore on the permit application. Brice is described as a “street contractor” or “grader” in various editions of Polk’s Seattle Directory; however, he seems to have worked regularly as a developer and was involved with the construction of several residences on Wallingford Avenue N. in the years prior to the First World War. The structure was designed by Joseph E. Parker, a building contractor who lived at 1718 3rd Avenue N. According to city permit records, Parker often assumed the role of designer when he worked with Brice on the development of properties in the Wallingford neighborhood.
Owner James L. Avis, Jr., an inspector and engineer with Bogardus Testing Laboratories and later a clerk with Pacific Construction and Engineering, built a garage at the site in 1917. A later owner, driver Robby P. Sutherland, expanded the garage in 1921. His wife, Anna L. Sutherland, appears to have owned the property from 1923 until at least 1937. Irving H. Hoveland was the only resident at the house in 1938, according to Polk’s Seattle Directory.
Later owners appear to have included the Burke Avenue Chapel (also known as Wallingford Bible Fellowship), which held the property from 1955 until it was sold to Clyde and Kim Blakeley in 1996. The current owner, Christopher Steck bought the property from the Blakeleys in 1997.
This structure is significant as an intact and well-maintained example of craftsman bungalow design dating from the middle of Seattle’s first north end building boom. The numerous roofs, particularly the long, extended porch roof, make the structure into an eye-catching example of the style. Its corner location on Wallingford Avenue, a minor neighborhood arterial and former streetcar route, make its iconic character familiar to a large number of local residents. This house is also significant as an example of the variety of structures built on Wallingford properties developed by Henry Brice.
|
|
| |
| Appearance |
| This is a 1-1/2 story, shingle clad frame residence on a concrete foundation over a full basement. It is located at the corner of Wallingford Avenue N. (to the east) and N. 41st Street (to the north). The moderate slope of the roof, the wide bargeboards supported by triangular knee braces, the unenclosed undersides of the roof overhangs, the exposed rafter tails, the detailing of the porch, and the use of bungalow style windows (in the case of this structure, typically double-hung units each comprised of a small upper sash divided into six lights arranged in a 2 x 3 pattern over a larger undivided lower sash) are all characteristics of this house that identify it as a craftsman bungalow.
The roof form of this house is more complicated than that of the typical craftsman bungalow. The main volume of the structure extends east and west with gables at each end. However, large gables face north and south as well. In addition, a wide gabled wing extends a few feet to the west and smaller gabled wings extend several feet to the east and to the north.
The east elevation of the house fronts on Wallingford Avenue N. The front porch is protected by a cross gable that fits into the elbow created by the east wing of the house (at the south end of the east elevation) and the structure’s apparent main volume. Battered and capped stucco-clad pedestals each support a square wood column, which in turn, supports the roof at each of the porch’s three outside corners. The guardrail consists of a single heavy timber that spans between the pedestals; the pedestals are detailed to appear as if pierced by the rail. The entry stair approaches the porch fro the east and passes under the eave of the cross gable element between the southeast corner pedestal and a fourth shorter pedestal that stands at the northern edge of the stair, arriving near the southern end of the porch. The porch cover extends to the north beyond the northern façade of the structure’s main volume and presents a gable to the cross street to the north. The front door, which features leaded glass, is located at the south end of the porch and opens into the north wall of the east wing. Three bungalow windows are grouped together in the east wall of the house’s central volume at the west side of the porch.
The gable of the central volume extends over the back half of the porch. Two four-paned, inward acting, awning type windows are paired and centered in the gable directly over the ridge of the porch roof. The gable of the east wing is made asymmetrical by the southward extension of the porch roof. The south-facing slope of the east wing roof is coplanar with the south-facing slope of the main gable. A group of three bungalow windows, a wide central unit flanked by two typical units, is centered in the east wall of the east wing.
A gable extends over most of the south elevation, although the east wing of the house displays an eave at the south wall. A chimney is located just west of the point where the eave and the gable bargeboard meet. Two small windows, featuring leaded glass in a “double house” configuration, flank the chimney and are set high in the wall in typical bungalow manner. A shed-roofed bay at the first floor level in the gabled portion of the façade is shifted off axis to the west. Two typical bungalow windows are paired and centered in the bay. Another typical window is located in the wall west of the bay, and two more are paired and centered in the gable above.
The west elevation is partially hidden by a temporary or prefabricated garage. The west wing, located at the southern half of the west elevation, projects only a small distance from the central volume. A typical bungalow window appears to be located near the southwest corner of the wing. Two small single sash windows arte located near the northwest corner. It appears that a window may have been removed from the wing’s gable. The west elevation of the central volume seems haphazard in its organization. A six-pane window in the gable is forced off axis to the north by the roof of the west wing. At the northern limit of the first floor level is a large, six light rectangular window that was probably added in the 1930s or 1940s. The small door to the south of the window appears to have been abandoned.
The north elevation is framed by the projecting porch roof gable at the east end of the façade and the projecting north wing gable at the west end. The west-facing slope of the north wing is coplanar with the west-facing slope of the main north facing gable. Two small double-hung windows are paired just to the east of the north wing. Two typical bungalow windows are paired just to the west of the front porch projection. Two additional bungalow windows are paired and centered in the gable at the upper floor level. A door and a bungalow window are ganged together in the middle of the north wing’s north façade. The door opens onto a recently added deck and the door itself may be a recent addition to the structure.
The northwest corner of the house appears to have been altered. As noted above, the door in the north façade of the north wing may be a recent addition and opens onto a relatively new deck, a window appears to have been added to the west elevation of the north wing, and an old door to the south of the window appears to have been abandoned. No other significant modifications are apparent. |
|
|
